1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to telecommunications services. More particularly, the present invention relates to capabilities that enhance substantially the value and usefulness of various messaging paradigms including, inter alia, Short Message Service (SMS), Multimedia Message Service (MMS), Internet Protocol (IP) Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), etc.
2. Background of the Invention
As the ‘wireless revolution’ continues to march forward the importance to a Mobile Subscriber (MS), for example a user of a Wireless Device (WD)—for example a user of a Wireless Device (WD) such as, inter alia, a mobile telephone, a BlackBerry, etc. that is serviced by a Wireless Carrier (WC)—of their WD grows substantially.
One consequence of such a growing importance is the resulting ubiquitous nature of WDs—i.e., MSs carry them at almost all times and use them for an ever-increasing range of activities.
Within the universe of ever-increasing activities, one of the specific activities for which MSs would like to employ their WDs encompasses the facilitation, completion, etc. of the payment element of a transaction, purchase, etc.—for example, a transaction within Mobile Commerce (M-Commerce, which, broadly speaking, encompasses the buying and selling of merchant-supplied products, goods, and services through WDs), a purchase in the checkout lane of a brick-and-mortar store, a purchase at a (fast-food or other) restaurant, etc.
Consequently the need exists for an infrastructure that allows MSs, through their WDs, to seamlessly participate in, support, facilitate, complete, etc., in new and creative ways, payments for transactions across the diverse range of transaction types (including, among other things, transactions that involve very small amounts of money all the way up to transactions that involve very large amounts of money).
The present invention provides such enhanced transaction payment capabilities and addresses, in new and innovatory ways, various of the (not insubstantial) challenges that are associated with same.